Time Resources

Several years ago I realized I had more on my plate than I could possibly accomplish.  I wrote down a list of everything I was doing with the intention of crossing a bunch off.  The only thing I wanted to ditch was the housework; but given my lack of enthusiasm for that, it only saved 1 or 2 hours a week.

So what did that leave me for choices?

I decided I would become more efficient and so began my quest.

I started with TQ which stands for Time Quotient = Results / Time.  It wasn’t just the equation that caught my attention, but there are a ton of great resources (free and paid) that help you focus on increasing your results while decreasing the time it takes to accomplish them.  http://www.thinktq.com/training/todaystq/index.cfm?sa=109316 (affiliate link)

Next I found Simpleology, the simple science of getting what you want.  Again, a ton of free and paid resources. http://www.simpleology.com/ (not an affiliate link)

The real break through for me came when I read Tim Ferris’s The 4 Hour Work Week.  I read it one weekend while making 2 machine quilts out of old 60’s pillowcases for 2 of my sons.   It worked so well, I found myself over the next few weeks, wondering what to do next.  The big take-home for me was the idea of eliminating busy work.  The hard part is in recognizing what that is.  I like to reread this periodically.  It has gone a long way to helping me fit more important things in my life.

For the final polish, I like to read Leo Babauta’s blog Zen Habits.  He has just posted a roundup of some of his favourite pieces.  I also like his The Power of Less book.

This is a continual work in progress, and I can see that I have made progress.

Are you in Business or in Busyness?

If you take a jar, pour in sand, then pebbles and try to put in the rocks – they won’t fit.  Put the rocks in first, then the pebbles into the spaces, finally put in the sand; then it all fits.  Not only that, you’ll find there’s always room for a glass of wine.

That’s how you should manage your time.  If you try to clear up all the little things, then take care of the bigger things before you tackle the important things – you’ll never get to the important things.  You will fill your time with the things that are not important and before you know it, the day is done.

Will Smith says it all

I love Will Smith movies.  In this video he talks about many of the things we’ve talked about this month.  You can see the results he’s had. 

Give

Giving from the Heart by Clearly Ambiguous

Give people what they want

The best and most effective way to increase your bottom line is to give people what they want.  Make your product/service the best it can be.  The more you help your customers to serve their customers/family/community the more they will buy from you and talk about you.

Give to get known

I ran the free Crystal Clear Lunch & Learn series for 3 years.  I did it because there were speakers I wanted to hear and meet and I thought others would feel the same way.  People talked about the series and media covered it.  It was the only marketing I did and I was able to grow my business as much as I needed over that time.

Give without expecting anything in return

When you are handed a flower in the airport, you expect to be asked for a donation.  It becomes a transaction.  How refreshing to get something with no expectation of anything in return.  How do you feel about the last person who gave you something?

Give what you can

Don’t give until it hurts.  That just hurts you and makes others feel bad.  We all have many things to give that are easy for us to give.  What you can give is different from what I can give and between us we have it all covered.

Giving works

Seth Godin is launching his new book Linchpin.  You can read here how he has taken a new, giving way to launch it out into the world.

January is about asking the question ‘How will you know when you get there?’

You have to believe that you deserve and believe in yourself.  You need a clear compelling vision to work towards.  You need to take action to move yourself where you want to go.  The best way to get what you want is to give to others.

Action

Nothing happens until you do something.  I make sure I take action every day on my goals.

It doesn’t have to be huge, but it does have to be consistent and time is not a valid excuse.

Focus your attention and take action on the important things first.

Thought plus action

Originally uploaded by magnetbox

Have you heard the story about the rocks, pebbles and sand (and wine)?  Here is a link to one version of it.  If you pour sand, then pebbles then rocks into a jar, they won’t fit, but if you put the rocks in first (the most important parts of your life), then the pebbles (those other necessary things) and then the sand (all that minutia of life, that may or may not have to be done) they will all fit.  And, of course, after that there is always room for a glass of wine.

The most successful people take action every day to move themselves forward.  If you focus first on what it important, you can fit the rest in.

I have rearranged my schedule so that I can spend the first few hours of the day working on the Business Owners Success Club, the afternoon is for Crystal Clear Bookkeeping Ltd and the weekends are for the family.  There are regularly scheduled meetings for the Library project.  I make a point of walking to my office as often as I can, I have lunch with friends a couple of times a month and I read every night before sleep – those are for me.

Everything else can get fitted in and around those rocks.

Vision

Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements. – Napoleon Hill

I created a Power Point titled, “In January 20111, I…”  I look at it a couple of times a week because it helps me focus on things I want in my home, places I want to go and people I want to spend my time with.

The first trip has already happened.  If I hadn’t had that vision right in front of me, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have taken the trip and I would have lost out on meeting some great people.  That trip caused a shift in my thinking.  I feel a shift in the way I view money and my business – they both seem less stressful and more exciting.  I have also started on a new path of learning how to collaborate with other people.

Without that vision ppt, I would have missed that.  Knowing I wanted to do the trip, knowing the probable benefits I would have got, I still would have missed out on it if I hadn’t held it closely as a priority.

Vision boards in whatever form they take, work.

Goal Setting

Originally uploaded by lululemon athletica

Believe

TEDGlobal in Oxford, England

I had been watching TED videos over lunch for 6 months or so when I got an email about an extra TEDGlobal that was going to take place in July in Oxford, England.  This was going to be the 2^nd TEDGlobal in Oxford in 5 years and it was going to become an annual event.  They said it would be like the Long Beach TED, but with a more global flavour.

My first thought was, “Oh that sounds wonderful.  I want to go.”  My second thought was, ”But that’s a $9000 trip, I can’t leave my family for a week.  I can’t leave my business for a week.  How can I justify that?”  This is what Seth Godin calls the lizard brain response.

I brought it up to my Mastermind group and some friends and clients – well, I guess I talked about it a bunch.  Everyone said I should do it.  If anyone from around here should go, it should be me.

People suggested I find out who has a vested interest in bringing this information back here and get them to sponsor me.  I put together a page and asked my friend to make it pretty – which he did – and I sent it out.  Well, there was deafening silence in response.  Being the optimist I am, I waited for last minute takers.  There were none.

This is where I could very easily have stopped.  My gamble had not paid off.  I was running out of time and it was clear that no one else thought I was worthy enough to be our liaison to the wider world in this way, at least not enough to put their money on it.

But I believed that I was.  I believed that the TED experience would change me in a significant way.  That going would make a difference in my life.  That it was a dream worth fighting for.

So I got a small business loan, I snagged a training allowance, upped the limit on my credit card and I went.

My mind was blown.  I am changed.  I met incredible people.  I am the kind of person who goes to world class events.  I am not the same as I was a year ago.

Was it worth it?  You bet!  Would I do it again?  In a heart beat, in fact I did.  I went to Seth Godin’s launch of Linchpin last week in NYC where I met him and members of an online community I belong to.  I am the kind of person who does those things.

So next time something comes across your desk and your first thought is, “Oh that sounds wonderful.  I want to go.”  And your second thought is, “But, but but…”

Go with your first thought.

Year in Review

I like to pause at this time to look over the past year and into the coming year.

As you look back over your year, ask your self these questions:

What surprised me most in my business?
How my business boomed this year. Usually, when people mention the recession word, business owners look for ways to slash spending which means outside services like bookkeeping are one of the first to go. But not this time. Business owners realized that if they were going to make it through they had better hunker down, with good data, and spend their time effectively.

What was the best thing I did?
I traveled. I took a trip to Iceland and England to attend TEDGlobal, in Oxford; I spent a week with my family on the Bras D’Or Lakes; I went to the Celebrating Communities Conference in Truro and I flew to Toronto to celebrate my parent’s 50th Wedding Anniversary. I got clarity, new ideas, different perspectives, met amazing people and realized, you know, this is a pretty good world we live in.

What mistakes have I learned from?
Leadership has the responsibility of nurturing and supporting the people around me. This doesn’t come naturally to me so I am asking for help and trying to ally with others who can fulfill that role.

Listening is important to make sure that what I am hearing is what the other person is saying. We all see the world in a different way and perceive it through our own lens. I stumbled a couple of times from not having clear communication and expectations with other people.

What is my most proud accomplishment?
That I have taken several visions to completion and that I am bringing several others along. I turned thought into a tangible. Wow.

What did I not accomplish that I hoped I would?
I had hoped I would have several people here in the office working by now. I’m hopeful that I will by early in January.

Looking back, what was the theme of my year?
Going Places
By that I mean travel as well as learning and stepping out of my comfort zone.

As you look ahead, ask yourself these questions:

Where would I like to be in a year from now? ( I don’t necessarily mean geographically)
I’d like to have Crystal Clear Bookkeeping Ltd. in 2 locations with 6 staff.
I’d like the Business Owners Success Club to have 600 on-line members making clear progress on their businesses every month.
I’d like to have taken 4 trips during the year, including a cross-Canada odyssey with my family.

What big thing can I accomplish next year?
I want to take the kids across Canada by Travel Trailer. That means getting my businesses to the point where I don’t have to be here. That means delivering value from where ever I am.

I’ve noticed that I have to focus beyond where I am so that I can overcome the fear and just deliver. I find fear rears its head and stalls projects just before completion as I begin to second guess myself and begin to worry about what other people will think. I’m hoping that by focusing on something bigger, I will be able to just deliver all that I can.

What can I get rid of to make room for better things?
I’d like to say fear, but that isn’t realistic. I can say that I will get rid of the hesitation that fear brings. Seth Godin has a great video about that here.

Which of my strengths can I highlight this year?
My strengths are Futuristic, Learner, Input, Maximizer, Strategic: I work best when I’m gathering information and figuring out the best way to use it. I’ve gathered lots of information and now I want to focus on turning it around and putting it back out there.

What would I like the theme for this year to be?
My theme will be Deliver

This is a great exercise to inspire yourself to keep moving forward. We tend to over estimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in 10 years. By doing this exercise every year, I am finding that I am accomplishing more every year while directing my 10 year plans better.

How about you…

What Matters Now

Seth Godin, thought-leader extrordinaire, has asked more than 70 of today’s top thinkers to write a page each about what they are thinking about/planning for the coming year/want to share.

He has compiled it into a pdf that he is encouraging all to share.

Here’s what I’m thinking about/planning for the coming year/want to share.

UNITE

If all small business owners were united into a community whose aim is to support each other, the world would be a better place.

Small business supports local sport, culture and community.

Business owners have a vested interest in making sure their communities have good infrastructure.

Small business is the economic life of most communities by providing jobs, buying goods and services, and making goods and services available.

Therefore, the more successful small business is, the better our communities can be. This applies all over the world and is the reason that the Acumen Fund and Kiva are such important charities.

It sure feels like running a small business is a tough road. Why is that?

If we worked together, small business would be more successful.

Support other small business by recognizing that none of us are competitors, we all want to help, the more you give the more you get in return. Share advice/resources/ideas. Buy from your community.

Read What Matters Now, apply it and pass it on. Tell us what you are thinking about/planning for the coming year/want to share.

The Best of 2009

I went to TEDGlobal in Oxford England July 2009.

This counts as best trip, conference and restaurant meal. (pictures here)

The trip itself was cool because I had an 11-hour stopover in Iceland so; of course, I went to Reykjavik and then for a soak in the Blue Lagoon. I saw the Jeff Koons exhibit at the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park and I spent the weekend after the conference with my cousin, Patricia.

This brings me to my best restaurant meal. After touring Borough Market, several churches and the Tate Modern, Patricia and I met up with my sister-in-law and her husband at Imli, an Indian Tapas place in Soho. There we were – 4 Canadians, all related, laughing, eating and drinking for hours.

The TEDGlobal conference was mind-blowing. It is a world-class conference with all the amenities and comfort you could expect. The speakers were amazing. The videos of them don’t capture all the nuances of their personalities that you can see when you are there. The audience is every bit as amazing as the people on stage and everyone is there to immerse themselves in the experience. The venues, the program and the energy were all designed to keep people mixing and moving. It was an enlightening, life-changing experience. It was a stretch for me to get there and I am grateful that I did.

#BEST09